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Resident urges city help after finding grant agreement she says limited rent increases at Maple Hill Estates
Summary
A Maple Hill Estates resident told the council she found a grant agreement she says required the park owner to limit annual rent increases to 5% as a condition of a 2017 Manufactured Home Park Preservation Project grant; she asked the city for assistance locating next steps and staff directed her to the community development director.
A resident of Maple Hill Estates raised a rent-dispute issue during open forum, saying she discovered a grant agreement from 2017 that, in her reading, required the park owner to limit “unreasonable rent increases” to no more than 5% per year as a condition of a Manufactured Home Park Preservation Project grant between the Metropolitan Council and the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency.
Francine Woodford told the council the owner’s recent increase amounted to roughly 42% in a single change and said many residents could not afford the increase. She said the 2017 agreement defined affordability as rent equal to no more than 30% of area median income and that the compliance period for the grant was 20 years.
Woodford said she had previously contacted other agencies but was told the matter was outside their scope. She asked the council for guidance and help. City staff asked her to provide a copy of the agreement and to meet with Natalie Davis, the city’s community development director, for further steps; the mayor asked staff to make a copy of the document available to council for review.
Council did not take formal action during the meeting; staff directed Woodford to meet with the community development director to discuss next steps and to provide the document for staff review. The resident said she had obtained the agreement by email and printed a copy for the council.
The resident’s account and the document she provided will be a starting point for staff to determine whether any local enforcement role exists or if other agencies have primary authority over grant compliance or rent restrictions tied to the grant.
